THE ULTIMATE ADVICE POST | 50 TOP TIPS ON MENTAL HEALTH FOR SERVICE USERS, PROFESSIONALS, FRIENDS & FAMILY

Yes, you read that right; fifty! I’ve enjoyed writing posts around tips, advice, do’s and don’ts so I thought the ultimate one would be to put 50 of them in one big post!

Please don’t take this post as condescending and think that just because I’m in recovery I think it makes me an expert on mental health. I don’t, think that; I just hope that my experiences can provide others with the advice that might spare them from going through some of the same hardships. I also don’t want people to think that these tips don’t recognize the strength it takes to do some of them; anyone who knows me – and my blog – will know how important I think it is to acknowledge a person’s bravery and courage in mental health.

THE DO'S AND DON'TS FOR MENTAL HEALTH AT CHRISTMAS

I really wanted to write a post on how to support someone who struggles with their mental health around Christmastime but since I’m not one of those people, I don’t think I’d be the best person to give advice!

I’ve always been a Christmassy person and whilst bad things have happened at Christmas – one year I was in a Psychiatric Hospital, another we lost our family cat… I haven’t let them shape future ones. I get people asking me all the time how I ‘got better’ and how I can just ‘move on’ from the abuse and these other bad moments and I just think that I don’t have the choice! I mean, how could I give someone or something the power to ruin such a joyful time of the year? And some people will say that they aren’t ‘allowing’ it to be that way and that if they had a choice then they wouldn’t ‘choose to be sad on Christmas.’ But I don’t think it’s about choice; I think it’s about acceptance. Accepting these things have happened to you, accepting they’re in the past, and accepting that you have a future without them.